Sigil Arcanum Tarot: A Symbolic Journey

Blackout Cards Sorted and Organized - Ready to build decks!
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Dec 18, 2020 at 12:58:54 PM

Hello once again friends,

With the help of some wonderful friends, and my family, we have gotten all of the Blackout cards punched out of their sheets, and organized into respective boxes. I don't have a picture at the moment, but I'll post one in the next update.

This update is just to say that we will begin building the Blackout decks this weekend, and start shipping once we have a stock to ship!

Just a quick reminder for everyone: I am shipping out the orders for backers first, which refer to people who backed the campaign during it's one month period - you all are the reason that this deck became a reality, and though I do want to get everyone's shipped out right away, I am limited in how many I can ship at a time, and I am prioritizing the backers before the pre-orders.

If you bought the deck last spring (while the campaign was running during April - May) then you will receive yours first - before the Pre-orders which refer to any purchases made after the campaign finished in May. Many of you have already received your decks, and I'm very glad to hear from so many of you in other countries that your decks are arriving in good shape.

Thank you, and have a lovely Holiday season!

-Taylor

Brief Update and a Drawing (International Update)
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Dec 09, 2020 at 01:07:47 AM

Happy December!

The cards are printed, they are cut, they're looking good, and they'll be delivered tomorrow to my mom's house so we can start with the real fun!

Here's a picture of the new sheets, you can see the smaller size (half), and how the light bounces off the cards. Exact same paper and UV as the first half, so they'll match. Plus, no ghosting this time!

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS

Thank you so much for your continued patience! I believe I have shipped all the Spectrum-Only packages for Non-US pledges. This does not include Pre-Orders yet, but those will be fulfilled very soon as well, hopefully this month, possibly early January.

If you live outside the US, and you pledged during the Kickstarter campaign, and you did not order a Blackout Deck, you should either have your deck or else it is on the way. I sent tracking info to everyone individually, but if you have not received your goodies yet, or if you did not get a tracking number, please reach out by sending me a message on Kickstarter. If you ordered the Blackout deck, rest assured you will get yours soon, but of course none of these have shipped yet. The cards are just being cut today.

That's all I've got for now.

P.S.

I have been drawing my whole life, as many of you have I'm sure, but for the past decade I've been focused far more on digital art and design, and I have not picked up a pencil or a marker or a paintbrush in many years.

A few weeks ago, it hit me that I should be doing more drawing. I want to be better at it, and I want to be able to illustrate my own books. This deck is one thing, but to me it's a lot more mechanical and mathematic than it is "art". I realize that it is art, as is every tarot deck, or oracle deck, or whatever - but something clicked a few weeks ago that set me off on an "art" binge.

I've been drawing a lot, every day, trying to improve my technical abilities and my creative process. I know it'll help me be a better designer in the long run, and it's just fun to draw. I wanted to share with you all one of the things I drew, but as of yet I'm not comfortable sharing the actual pencil and ink sketch. I spent about 5 hours on the original drawing, and another 4 on the digital illustration, but I really like how it turned out, and I thought that some of you might get a kick out of it too.

Let me know what you think, if you like it or hate it, or if you're completely indifferent. I'm very open to constructive criticism and would love some opinions.

TTFN,

-Taylor

Interview with Swamp Witch Stephanie - Tonight at 8PM Central time
about 4 years ago – Fri, Nov 20, 2020 at 08:45:08 PM

Hey everyone!

I wanted to post quickly about this. I am going to be on Swamp Witch Stephanie's weekly Friday night show tonight, in about an hour - at 8PM Central. I apologize about not posting this here earlier - it just occurred to me that I should share with everyone here. We will, of course, be talking about the Sigil Arcanum Tarot, and Stephanie will be interviewing me about some other aspects of my life, including my magical practice.

Stephanie makes and sells magical and cosmetic products at her website, https://swampwitchstephanie.com, and I can attest from knowing her and having seen her work, that each of these products is quite authentic. They are made with real, whole ingredients, and are designed to be magically purposeful, rather than frivolous or simply fragrant.

So if you are interested in joining us tonight, check out her instagram, Swamp Witch Stephanie (https://www.instagram.com/swampwitchstephanie/) tonight at 8!

Take care,

Taylor

The Good-est News: Blackout cards printing next Wednesday!
about 4 years ago – Fri, Nov 20, 2020 at 06:52:57 AM

Hello all! I have some very good news today, I just got word about an hour ago from my contact at the paper company that the new print shop will be running the Blackout decks next Wednesday, the 25th of November in this crazy year, 2020.

Some technical details for my fellow nerds:

The decks are being printed slightly differently this time (since it's a different print shop). They use sheets which are half the size - which means we'll be able to transport them more easily. It also means less waste because the margins around the cards are smaller, and there is a significantly smaller area without any cards (5 empty cards instead of something like 20 per sheet).

The new print shop has run test prints! Wow! Who ever would have thought to do such a thing! Okay, sarcasm aside, I am amazed and appalled that Embossing Plus did not run any test sheets, each time they decided to just run the entire project, and each time something different came along to screw things up. In my opinion, these are learning opportunities. I'm learning how to work with various businesses and industries, I'm learning what I should expect, and Embossing Plus is learning to check their work (hopefully, maybe not. Either way, Midland Paper has ended their professional relationship with Embossing Plus; this project was not the only straw, but it was certainly the last straw).

The Blackout decks should be finished printing by early the following week or earlier - remember, we have American Thanksgiving next week, so the shop (and most businesses) are closed Thursday and Friday of next week (11/26 and 27).

Once the sheets have printed, they need to be cut. This should also take one or two days to finish (we're talking about 1,600 sheets cut one at a time).

Once all the sheets are cut, they just need to wrap up the palettes and finish processing everything. I don't know exactly how long that part will take. Ray (from Midland) has assured me I will have the sheets delivered to my mom's house by the first week of December at the latest.

AS. SOON. AS. THAT. HAPPENS. I am hitting the ground running. Going to spend every day after work busting out cards from the sheets, sorting and organizing them, quality control checking them, and building decks. It's going to be tight, but my goal is to get everything done and ready to ship before Christmas. I'm sincerely hoping to start shipping before that time.

In a perfect world, I'll have the sheets in hand Tuesday, Dec 1st, and will begin busting them all out that day. From experience doing the Spectrum decks, I'm guessing that it will take probably 30-35 hours to bust all the cards from the sheets and get them sorted into their boxes, and verifying quality. This will probably take me a week (with a team of helper elves). Once that step is done, I'll have 80 more boxes full of cards to start building the Blackout decks. I already have the Blackout boxes and I have plenty of stickers and booklets ready to go. I have no clue how long it's going to take to actually build all the decks, but I know I can personally get about 10 done per hour if I'm going nonstop. It's not easy, but it's work that I need to do since we didn't have the extra $6k to have Midland process and build the decks for us.

I know you all know this, but, I want to get these decks in your hands as soon as possible. In a perfect world, you'll have them before Christmas. This world is not perfect though, and life can get in the way. But that's the plan, and I'm sticking to it. I am so excited to finally share this news with you all, and I know many of you are as excited as I am. You've all been waiting so patiently.

Seriously, the kind words of encouragement that I've received from so many of you make me smile, and sometimes make me cry. You folks are tremendous, you've supported me throughout the last year and a half, and you've believed in me. I cannot thank you enough, and I can only hope that delivering the product you all backed and believed in will suffice. Thank you, from the bottom and top of my heart.

Just, thank you.

Here's to a smooth printing, a quick sorting, an easy building, and a fast shipping. Happy Holidays.

-Taylor

The Good-est News. Blackout Decks printing 11/25 (Next Wednesday)
about 4 years ago – Thu, Nov 19, 2020 at 02:34:59 PM

 Hello all! I have some very good news today, I just got word about an hour ago from my contact at the paper company that the new print shop will be running the Blackout decks next Wednesday, the 25th of November in this crazy year, 2020.

Some technical details for my fellow nerds:

The decks are being printed slightly differently this time (since it's a different print shop). They use sheets which are half the size - which means we'll be able to transport them more easily. It also means less waste because the margins around the cards are smaller, and there is a significantly smaller area without any cards (5 empty cards instead of something like 20 per sheet).

The new print shop has run test prints! Wow! Who ever would have thought to do such a thing! Okay, sarcasm aside, I am amazed and appalled that Embossing Plus did not run any test sheets, each time they decided to just run the entire project, and each time something different came along to screw things up. In my opinion, these are learning opportunities. I'm learning how to work with various businesses and industries, I'm learning what I should expect, and Embossing Plus is learning to check their work (hopefully, maybe not. Either way, Midland Paper has ended their professional relationship with Embossing Plus; this project was not the only straw, but it was certainly the last straw).

The Blackout decks should be finished printing by early the following week or earlier - remember, we have American Thanksgiving next week, so the shop (and most businesses) are closed Thursday and Friday of next week (11/26 and 27).

Once the sheets have printed, they need to be cut. This should also take one or two days to finish (we're talking about 1,600 sheets cut one at a time).

Once all the sheets are cut, they just need to wrap up the palettes and finish processing everything. I don't know exactly how long that part will take. Ray (from Midland) has assured me I will have the sheets delivered to my mom's house by the first week of December at the latest.

AS. SOON. AS. THAT. HAPPENS. I am hitting the ground running. Going to spend every day after work busting out cards from the sheets, sorting and organizing them, quality control checking them, and building decks. It's going to be tight, but my goal is to get everything done and ready to ship before Christmas. I'm sincerely hoping to start shipping before that time.

In a perfect world, I'll have the sheets in hand Tuesday, Dec 1st, and will begin busting them all out that day. From experience doing the Spectrum decks, I'm guessing that it will take probably 30-35 hours to bust all the cards from the sheets and get them sorted into their boxes, and verifying quality. This will probably take me a week (with a team of helper elves). Once that step is done, I'll have 80 more boxes full of cards to start building the Blackout decks. I already have the Blackout boxes and I have plenty of stickers and booklets ready to go. I have no clue how long it's going to take to actually build all the decks, but I know I can personally get about 10 done per hour if I'm going nonstop. It's not easy, but it's work that I need to do since we didn't have the extra $6k to have Midland process and build the decks for us.

I know you all know this, but, I want to get these decks in your hands as soon as possible. In a perfect world, you'll have them before Christmas. This world is not perfect though, and life can get in the way. But that's the plan, and I'm sticking to it. I am so excited to finally share this news with you all, and I know many of you are as excited as I am. You've all been waiting so patiently.

Seriously, the kind words of encouragement that I've received from so many of you make me smile, and sometimes make me cry. You folks are tremendous, you've supported me throughout the last year and a half, and you've believed in me. I cannot thank you enough, and I can only hope that delivering the product you all backed and believed in will suffice. Thank you, from the bottom and top of my heart.

Just, thank you.

Here's to a smooth printing, a quick sorting, an easy building, and a fast shipping. Happy Holidays.

-Taylor